Dear Classmates,

It’s officially Reunion month on the Hill! Thank you for registering early. I will see many of you back in Gambier this May to celebrate our belated 25th Reunion year.  We will be able to visit with members of the classes above and below us, and it will be the biggest alumni gathering in the College’s history! Our class will have several meet-ups during the weekend – including our mimosa and Bloody Mary party, hosted by your Social Committee Chairs. Come get your 26th Reunion memento cup and catch up with old friends.  All events will be on your schedule.

News from the Hill:

Kenyon Access Initiative 
You may have heard about the new Kenyon Access Initiative. We are eight months into our five-year partnership with the Schuler Education Foundation to increase access to Kenyon for exceptional students with limited resources. Our extended Kenyon community has enthusiastically responded by making more than 1,113 gifts to support this unique initiative, helping to create new scholarships that will be awarded to students we are enrolling now. In further great news, applications this year hit another record, up 14% over last year.

Lords and Ladies
Hopefully you saw the news from President Sean Decatur this winter that, in response to calls from students as we approach our Bicentennial, he agreed the time had come to look beyond Lords and Ladies. Thanks to all of you who have submitted suggestions or other feedback for the process to consider a new athletics moniker. This letter was finalized before the results were known, but you can visit kenyon.edu/moniker to learn the latest.

Green Initiatives
This spring, the College continued its commitment to integrating environmental stewardship into its curriculum, campus operations and campus culture. One exciting way this is happening is that Kenyon is refraining from new commitments in specialized private investment funds that focus on fossil fuels — expecting that less than 1% of Kenyon’s endowment portfolio will be invested in fossil fuels by 2030. 

I am proud to serve on the Board of the Philander Chase Conservancy along with several other Kenyon grads and fans. The Conservancy is responsible for keeping 5,700 acres of land in the College’s “viewshed” protected from widespread development. I wanted to share the good news that the Conservancy just received national accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance Accreditation Commission. This is a national mark of distinction, received after rigorous evaluation, showing that a land trust meets high standards for land conservation. Please let me know if you want to learn more.  Kenyon’s new quarterly Green Newsletter can be found at bit.ly/Green-Kenyon.

All of the excitement and achievement at Kenyon today can be traced, in part, back to our support. Kenyon relies on our gifts to the Kenyon Fund to support every aspect of students’ experience today, from seminars to scholarships. Thank you to the many people who have already given to the College this year.  I hope everyone will join me in making a stretch gift this year in honor of our belated 25th Reunion. 

I look forward to seeing you in May on the Hill.
Thank you!  
Cat Broadhead

P.S. Scroll down to view the 1996 class notes.